Relearn Emotion
by Distasteful End
Summary: She's changed, and he knows it's his fault more than he'd like to admit. SasuSaku Reunion


Hey gaiz. I realized I'm really only in it for the oneshots. I should totes make myself write a multi-chaptered fic, though. Anyhow, this is (one of the many of) my version of how the reunion between Sasuke and Sakura should go. I tried to keep Sasuke in character, and although it's not so evident, Sakura, too. See what I did there, with the beginning and end? Eh? Eh? HUH?

**Naruto belongs to Kishimoto, who is currently developing odd plot twists. In short, me no make profit, you no sue.**

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"Sakura."

She turned at the sound of her name.

When she turned he saw her face. It was hollow and tearstained from the many times she had cried herself to sleep, he guessed. But that part that stung him the most was her eyes. The once lively emerald orbs were now a muted grassy colour, as if she was keeping most of her being inside.

She wasn't reserved. She was supposed to be the energetic but calculating girl he had grown to appreciate. And annoying. Although the more time he spent around her, the more his annoyances changed. She hadn't been the weak, selfish little child when he realized she was only annoying to him because she tore at his priorities and ambitions, and confused him. That was what he had missed.

She was nothing like she was supposed to be.

He was exactly like he was supposed to be. The only difference was his now even more muscular build and chiseled face. More beautiful than ever, she thought. God, how she had missed him. Initially she had fallen for him, with her feelings based solely on his good looks and aloof attitude. Over the time she had know him, she had grown to understand and appreciate every part of him – and she learned that he did indeed have a sense of humour.

Now here he was, but she couldn't bring a smile to her lips. Those lips that had never truly smiled for a long time, now. Inside, she couldn't feel the elation she had always felt whenever she saw him. And for some reason, she didn't want to.

He took tentative steps towards her – as tentative as someone like him could be – until they were mere feet apart. He took in the rest of her – once lively rose hair now hung limply on her back (she had let it grow out again, he noted), he muscular arms flat at her sides, and her skin was pale, as if she had spent less time outdoors with friends and more time alone inside. Contemplating. Reminiscing. Crying.

"Why?"

He really hadn't changed. She felt a bit of emotion as a scornful smile played at her lips.

"You. You did this to me."

Her gaze was hard and penetrating. He felt as though she could see right through him to his very soul. He wondered if she must have felt like this whenever he used to look at her. Though he would never admit it, the look scared him. Scared him more then a glare of anger, because her face held no feelings, nothing for him to play off of, nothing to use. He didn't like seeing her like this. Had she know what was going through his mind right now, all those years ago?

And that scared him the most. Had he made even those closest to him – his precious people – feel lost whenever they looked into his eyes, his face? Had they wondered who he really was, what he could do? What they could do? Had he frightened them like she was frightening him?

"Stop."

The scorn grew. "Why? You did this," Her long lost anger was returning. "You could have stopped it long ago, before it started," It felt so good to feel emotions again, so she didn't try to control herself. "I can't do anything about it now. If you hate it so much, just leave again so that you don't have to see it!"

Suddenly her rage subsided and was replaced with a single tear that ran down her cheek. The one emotion she hated feeling, because it was the only one she had felt since she had last seen him. Anger was new to her now, and hard to keep up for long.

"Leaving wouldn't solve anything for you."

"It would for you!" she sobbed – and hated herself for it. If only she could speak without tears hindering her every word, holding her back, driving her friends away until she was what she was now. A lost cause. "I'm a lost cause."

She said it so softly he almost didn't hear. He had destroyed her life, he realized. Although it was partially her fault, for letting him take precedence over far more important things. He could never understand why he was so important to some. He had done his best to distance himself from them, but they kept coming back. Until he had physically distanced himself, and made sure he was unreachable, even to those who would fight tooth and nail to get him back.

"No."

She looked up at him. His face had hardened. He looked down at her, and she felt the skip-beat of her heart that used to be so familiar.

"I will change you," her heart hammered hard in her chest as he reached out with one single, long finger and wiped the tears from her eye – his gesture of solemnity, his gesture of kindness.

And suddenly all those emotions that had been cooped up inside of her erupted. The tears streamed from her eyes – over his finger and down her cheek – and she smiled a sad but real smile as she looked up at him.

Her old self. The one he had missed. The colour and joy was back. He felt a bubble of emotion inside of him, too. And on impulse, he closed the gap between them with one step, reached out behind her and pulled her into a tight embrace. The first he had initiated since he last saw his mother, so so long ago.

Her smile changed. Her face wet with tears, but bright with a new promise, she returned his second gesture of kindness. Something she could remember dreaming about so often. She pulled him closer and tucked her head into his chest. She felt his arms tighten around her back and his face in her hair. He was going to come home. The foreign emotions flooded her body and she wished she could always feel this at peace and loved

"Sasuke."

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R&R, bitches. I mean, please? :D


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